Monday, September 8, 2014

ALL MISSION CONFERENCE WITH ELDER BEDNAR

Kjære familie,
COOLEST. WEEK. EVER! Okay...I guess I should just start from the beginning of the week. But I cant hold it all in...so Im just going to say it...ELDER BEDNAR WAS HERE AND WE HAD 2 MEETINGS WITH HIM! I will write more about that later. :)


Last Monday was great! We went to IKEA with Majken and then did some more shopping. I havent been so stuffed of food compared to this week in a long time! That night we went to Hems moms house and his sister made us Nepalese food! It was rice, with some soup they put over it, and then chicken and some pickled things...i dont exactly know what it was. But it was good! Until I felt like I was going to throw up from how full I was. And then of course, she gave me more. Ohh i was stuffed. But we LOVE them!
On Tuesday we had a meeting as a district and then Sister Oldham and I were picked up by a member to drive out to an area called Selbu. Sister Oldham has a great great grandpa that served his mission in Norway 100 years ago that served a little bit of time in Selbu! So we went out there to Sister Jørgensens house (farm/museum) and got interviewed by a man in Selbu for the newspaper! It was great! On the way there, she bought us lunch and then we took some pictures, and then we got there and had more food, and then we went and contacted after the interview! There farm is also a museum because it is so old! So we got a brochure of it! It was way cool. Miracles happened as we contacted. We found a girl that gave us her number and seemed way intersted. The Lord really does lead us to the people prepared. Then we went back to her house for dinner! We had spaghetti and it was delicous! I can usually eat seconds when I am at dinner, but this time I had to tell her know because I was GOING TO POP! We had eaten literally all day! Later that night we went to visit a man that we had contacted on Monday night. We got in and it was an appartment FULL of family and friends. They got us chips and cinnamon tea (MORE FOOD.) and then we talked. The man we contacted couldnt speak good Norsk (they used to be Muslims from the middle east) so he had someone translate. ANyways, it was a sweet sweet family. A tender mercy happened while we were there. I smiled at the youngest girl (probalby about 15) and she smiled back. A couple minutes later she said to me, "Ive seen you before." And I thought for a minute and it came to me. I had seen her on the street a week or 2 ago and smiled at her, and she smiled back..and that was the only contact I have had with her. She recognized that I was the same person because I smiled at her! Like it says in PMG, "NO EFFORT IS WASTED." It really melted my heart and made me feel so good.
On Wednesday we went to the fjord and tried having hotdogs, but because my one match I had from the handout we did last week didnt work and then the other matches that we got didnt get it warm enoiugh, we had to go to her house and then eat the hot dogs. Okay, I know brookie doesnt like hotdogs, and our family isnt so keen with them...but NORWEGIAN HOTDOGS ARE DELICIOUS! You put them in these things called lumper (like thin tortillas) and then you put potato salad on them with crunchy onions and this delicious mustard....so good! We then went and did service for Majkens sister in law, Ane. Who was WAY pregnant! We cleaned her house, and then left after and got in the car to make our way to Mariel and Berts house! (melissas parents) It was a GORGEOUS drive! I felt like I was in a fairy tale and that dr. seuss helped to make some of the mountains and scenes. :) It was breathtaking! We got there and it was a little bit awkward. But it really went so well. They are still open to the gospel and said that they will always remember us as the ones that opened this gate for them. We watched a conference talk that came to Sister Oldhams head the night before. And then talked more with them. (and she made us delicious apple cake.) (MORE FOOD!) I cant even express how great it was to meet with them...and how positive it went. :) Then we drove back and were waiting for melissa at the church! It was perfect, because we were a little late, but because of that she got to see the YSA after they were done with institute! They had cake for one of their birthdays and she got to mingle. :) It went so well with her too!!! I am so happy with how it was :) She will meet once a week to read in the scriptures with us! She said that she has to read so much for school and she doesnt want the MB to go in one ear and out the other. She also wants to come to church but she cant promise every week. IT IS SO GREAT!!! I felt like the real Melissa was really coming back!
On Thursday we did Weekly Planning and then later that day we had dinner with Majken and Aaron, and had our investigator Håvard come too! We had (more foooooood) curry, mushroom soup and some other mushroom thing (remember, håvard and his family and friends had gone "mushroom hunting") and cake! It was great having our investigators involved with members. ANd I just love Majken and Aaron so it was great! Håvards wife and son came too :) Then we had MMK!


Friday was my last day in Trondheim :( But Majken wanted to have lunch with us again so she made it and brought it into the church for us to have all together. I love Majken with alll my heart! I hope you all get to meet her someday. A member that just moved into our ward got an appointment for us with a friend he has in school! SO afterwards we went and taught her, Sofia. and AHHH i love her! Her mom used to be a member and she has just heard the bad things about the church. She said, while we taught her, that it felt right. Ole (the member) had already taught her lots, but it was great being able to answer questions and teach her. :) I WISH I COULD STILL TEACH HER! Later that night, we went to our MMKs house and had dinner. His wife (Ane) had her baby earlier that morngin!!! and he still had us over!!! THAT is a good mission leader. haha, and we had more food...hot dogs! It was great though and the elders both brought an investigator. We had to go after the food so that we could all get to our buses and trains to get to the airport in time. Sister Oldham and I took a flybus to get to the airport and then caught our plane to Oslo! It was great moving with 3 other sisters! Because all my bags got checked without having to pay! And, I was .7 or so kilo from being exactly on how much it could weigh. I was so blessed! We took a flytog to the stop closes to the mission home and President Evans picked us up at about 11 pm. Then we hit the sack in their home! (which is probably one of my favorite places on earth.) And of course before we went to sleep, Sister Evans had made us cookies. And had milk and oranges out for us. We talked to the sisters a little bit and THEN went to sleep. :)


Saturday was the Sisters Conference!!! EVERY sister in the mission was in the mission home! Thats 30 sisters! We had workshops by the STLs. And we were assigned Confidence. They went so well! Sister Evans also talked to us, we had stations where some of us painted nails, some of us made shirt cards from cute paper, and others made the lunches for the next day for all the missionaries! We had a delicious lunch and dinner made by sister evans and got to chat with all the sisters. :) It was SO fun! My shoulder had been bugging me...like when your muscle feels so bad that it hurts like a bruise...I think it was from carrying so much and using a bag. Anyways, Sister Evans let me use their bath! I went into the bathroom to her cleaning it out, had me pick out a bubble bath, and then let me use a fluffy towel. Oh! And she dropped lavender oil in it also. She came back in as the water was filling up and she lit 2 candles. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. Afterwards I felt like I was drugged up because I was so relaxed. I havent felt so relaxed since the time I got the massages! It was so nice. I layed on a big king (?) sized bed afterwards and got myselft to finally get up. Anyways...i love President and Sister Evans with all of my heart. If I could live in the Mission Home the rest of my life I would. :) We slept in the same room that I stayed in my first night in Norway! It included scaring sister oldham to death when she came in the pitch black room and I was laying in the bottom of her bed. She said to us "dont think about scaring me" and then she touched my back and I said, "hello." and she just screamed and dropped to the ground! hahaha! Ahh I love these people so much.


Sunday was a HUGE DAY! We woke up, got ready, and left! We got on a bus to get to the big NORWAY (both stakes) conference where Elder Bednar and his wife would be speaking! Aida was there, Atle, the Fromgrens, Annett, the Weggersens, osv. were there! I saw people from every one of my areas!!! ahhh I love people! By the way, Fredrik is engaged!!! Crazy how news gets around so fast! haha Anyways, it was so good to see so many people. :) Elder Bednars talk was amazing. He spoke directly to the people that were not members and then to the members. He said that one day, there will be more than 2 stakes in Norway and the Sacrament meetings will be full of confirmations. It was absolutely amazing! And then we all rushed to get to the church building so that we could have our missionary meeting with him! It was absolutely unbelievable. Seriously...our whole mission is still in shock! We had been given 3 talks to read of his, Ask by Faith, Seek Learning by Faith, and Converted unto the Lord. And then he asked us what we learned. A microphone was passed around to those that wanted to speak. I stood up and told him that what I had learned was simple, but that prayer really is when we communicate with Heavenly Father. Our conversations with him. It really has hit me that prayer is when we TALK with our Father in Heaven. And then he commented with me on how prayer isnt casual but it is a powerful and faithful conversation. It was really special. With some people he asked more questions. And then he opened it up for us to ask. He wanted everyone to get a chance to speak if they wanted to, so although I had a question, I didnt get to ask. But I think I got my answer from actually speaking earlier in the meeting. Which was special. He is probably the best teacher Ive heard. He told us before hand that he isnt there to ask us a question and then wait for us to give him the one hes waiting for (like guessing game) but that there is no wrong answers. He told us that we dont believe him, but after a while, we will know that he isnt doing that! That none of us are under pressure. It was so comfortable and he way funny! I could write all my notes to you all now, because I have too many thoughts and feelings about it....but instaed Ill just tell you what I know. I know that he was called of God. And that he is one of 15 other men that hold the keys that Christ has. I will never ever be able to express the feelings I felt there. Because the Spirit was permanently there in that room. Stuck to it. I know he was called of God and that everyone can know that he is by asking in faith, and being agents. He told us that whenever they go anywhere to speak, whenever Christ did anything, it was to find the ONE. At the main conference, his wife talked about their daughter in law, that has a father from Norway (or something like that). And the lady that gave the closing prayer came up to them afterwards and told them that their daugher in laws father is the one that baptized her father. And that he is still active and there. Her father met Elder Bednar and Sister Bednar. It was proof that we really are there to influence the ONE.
After the conference, Elder and SIster Bednar had to catch a plane, but we took a mission picture and other pictures, then we went and ate at the mission home, I got my stuff and we went to Nordstrand! It was so sad saying goodbye, knowing that this is probably the last time Ill see some of these missionaires in NOrway. ANyways, we missed our train becasue we were on the wrong spor, so we waited longer. And got home a little after 9:30. Nordstrand is ADORABLE! Its right outside of Oslo, but we live in the bottom floor of a house. After taking a train, trikk, and bus, we got home and got wet from the rain. :) Sister Buhler is my companion! She got her the same time as Sister Robbins and Sister Johnson trained her! She is from Oregon and Washington and YES, her dad is the inspiration for Ferris Buhlers day off! haha crazy, huh? She is also half japanese! So she makes japanese food and can speak some japanese :) She is great!
I love you all so much and hope you have a great day and week!!!!
LOVE, Søster Chapman


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